Transition Guide to Join Forms

In this article, we will help you understand the differences between the browser version and desktop version as they relate to forms.

More detailed articles are linked at the bottom.

The desktop forms will not roll over, so you will need to re-create them in the browser.

Table of Contents

Desktop Forms Versus Join Forms
The Form Builder
More Information

Desktop Forms Versus Join Forms

It is now a self-service model that puts you behind the wheel to create and edit your forms.
There are a lot of available fields, so the forms can be as quick or comprehensive as you need.
There are new form types in addition to the familiar Join form: Donation forms, Renewal forms, Prospect forms, and General forms.

You can enable a "Bill Me" option to submit without payment.

For Join and Prospect forms, the profile is automatically created, but automatically creating a profile can be turned on or off for the Donation and General forms.
Forms can gather information about the organization and individual, automatically create a profile for both, and link them together.
Affiliation codes can be included if the visitor checks them off in the form or you can predefine them so that any profiles created by a specific form will be tagged by specific codes.
E-mail notifications can be enabled for whenever certain form submissions take place.

So, the new forms are designed to give you more control, gather more, and automate more processes.

Back to Table of Contents

The Form Builder

Back to Table of Contents

Landing Page

In the browser, the Form Builder is found in the Communication menu.

This will take you to the Form Builder landing page:

The landing page includes:

A list of existing forms. Clicking on the form name will allow you to edit the form.

This will not reflect forms that were created in the desktop version. This is a different form system, so you will need to re-create your forms in the browser.

An option to Create a New Form (top right corner). Clicking that button will drop a list of form types. After choosing the Join form, you will be taken to the create screen for that type of form.

The number of submissions for each form. Clicking on the number will take you to the Form Submissions page where you can view more information about each submission.
An Actions button next to each form with the option to copy or deactivate that form.

Back to Table of Contents

Creating a Join Form

These bullet points serve as a quick guide to creating a Join form, but for more information, please refer to our standard article for Creating an Online Join Form.

Also, this flow of adding elements is the same flow for any of the form types, so once you have created your first form, you will be able to take that same process and create other form types.

In the browser:

Each form is made up of blocks and each block is made up of elements.

Fields are the primary element, but there are also headings and text that you can add for organization or explanation.
At the bottom of the form, there is an option to add a New Form Element.

You can also hover your mouse over a block to add a New Form Element. The element will then be added to the block below that block.

Options to edit, remove, or change the order are available for each element.

When adding or editing a field, there is a Required checkbox that you can check if desired.
The Form Settings button at the top includes settings that impact billing, membership, affiliation codes, and e-mail notifications.

For more information, please refer to the standard article for Configuring your Join Form Settings.

Back to Table of Contents

Adding to Website

After saving a new form, or editing an existing form, there is an option to view the form (top right). For a join form, the button will read: View Join Form. This will allow you to preview and test the form, but also to grab the URL which you will then add to your website.

Back to Table of Contents

Viewing Submissions

On the landing page, each form will include the number of submissions. Clicking on this number will take you to the Form Submissions screen.

You also have a View Submissions option when editing a form (top right).

The Form Submission screen shows you the date of submission, the profile behind the submission, a link to any related invoices, and the invoice amount.
The date range at the top allows you to widen or narrow your search.
If you want to view the submitted information, you can click Actions next to the profile-of-interest, and View Submission.
The submissions can be exported by clicking Export Submissions (above the grid, on the right).

For more information, please refer to the standard article for Managing Online Join Form Submissions.

Back to Table of Contents